John Barclay and the Scarlets were unable to pick up a win at play-off rivals Glasgow

24 March 2014, 11:20 am ::

By WRU

Owens sees Scarlets' hopes hit hard

Ken Owens admits the Scarlets now have a mountain to climb if they are to make the RaboDirect PRO12 play offs after defeat to Glasgow.

Simon Easterby's men were beaten 14-6 at Scotstoun as they lost ground on the Warriors in the race for the fourth and final semi-final spot.

A Niko Matawalu try just past the half hour proved decisive as a battling performance ultimately brought no reward for a Scarlets side who have now lost successive away games having won three fixtures on the trot prior to the previous round's reverse at Ulster.

Olly Barkley provided the visitors' only points courtesy of a brace of penalties as the Scarlets failed to bounce back from the disappointment of defeat in Belfast last time out.

The result leaves them 11 points adrift of fifth-placed Glasgow, with the Scottish side also enjoying two games in hand as the season nears its conclusion. The Ospreys currently occupy fourth spot, some 15 points in front of the Scarlets, with both teams having played 17 games.

"Our play-off chances are probably gone," said Owens, who played 50 minutes having started for Wales in their 51-3 win over Scotland in the final round of the RBS 6 Nations.

"It was a disappointing night. We didn't have enough territory or ball and when we did have the ball we weren't able to hold onto to it long enough.

"We need other sides to make mistakes now, but we need to finish the season strongly and try to win every game we have left."

Scotland fly-half Duncan Weir kicked Glasgow into a 6-0 lead with penalties after eight and 20 minutes but Barkley's first strike meant the Scarlets were well in the mix at the end of the first half an hour.

The game swung Glasgow's way on 31 minutes, though, as man-of-the-match Matawalu took Chris Cusiter's inside pass to sprint over almost unopposed after leaving his left wing position. Glasgow had opted to kick for touch from inside the Scarlets 22 rather than going for goal and that adventure was eventually rewarded after Chris Fusaro had initially been held up over the tryline.

The Fijian's score saw the Scarlets trail 11-3 at the break and they fell further behind when Weir slotted a third penalty three minutes after the restart. Barkley kept his team in the hunt by cutting the deficit to eight points with half an hour still to play but they were unable to close the gap any further and missed the chance to at least leave with a losing bonus point when Aled Thomas sent his late penalty attempt wide of the near post.